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All of your innocent questions answered in a polite and orderly fashion Click here to read a glossary of the juice world's confusing jargon, or read on for info about the rest of the family...
How and where are your drinks made?
We want to make the best quality drinks with the lowest possible carbon impact. To do so, we buy the best ingredients there are and then find the most carbon-efficient way of getting them to our drinkers. We have a policy of moving our ingredients by land or sea only; we will not air freight them.
Where do you get your fruit?
In all honesty, it's quicker to tell you where we don't get our fruit from. We don't get any fruit from Finland, Libya or Hong Kong. We do follow the sun around the world - in spring our oranges come from countries such as Jamaica, Egypt and Morocco, whereas in summer they are sourced from countries like Brazil, South Africa and Argentina. Our blueberries are from Canada, our mangoes are from India and our strawberries are from Poland. We don't see any particular reason why we shouldn't use the best possible fruit in all of our drinks - if you can think of one, please let us know.
Why are your drinks pasteurised?
There are two types of pasteurisation, UHT (Ultra Heat Treatment) and the gentle version. We use the latter, (which is at the brief end of the scale) in order to knock out any potentially harmful bacteria. The reason we do this is that we think you would be crazy not to, as it guarantees the safety of our drinks without significantly impacting their taste or nutritional content. The safety of our drinks is paramount to us. There are harmful bacteria which can lurk in fruit such as E.Coli 0157 and the Noro virus. There have been incidents in the past whereby unpasteurised juices have caused serious illness and a fatality, so we see it as a vital safety measure. Gentle pasteurisation is the best way to ensure safety of our drinks, yet minimise the effect on taste and nutritional quality. Any nutritional information that we provide on our labels is always measured post pasteurisation, and at the end of shelf life. In short, any nutritional information we declare on pack is always the minimum nutritional content you will find in the drink itself. The added bonus to pasteurising our drinks is certainly the slightly extended shelf life, as the process also kills off the food spoilage bugs, but our main reason for gently pasteurising our drinks is to make them totally safe to consume.
How are babies made?
When Mummy and Daddy have special hugs, Mummy sometimes whispers a magic word to Daddy. When Daddy hears the magic word, he feels very happy and in a few seconds they will have ordered a baby, a bit like shopping on the internet.
How do you make your smoothies?
Because innocent smoothies contain nothing but fruit, making them is a relatively simple process. However, this doesn't necessarily mean it's easy. The two most important considerations are to ensure that only the best fruit is used and that both the fruit and everything it touches are spotlessly clean. We are very particular about the fruit we use. Not only do we insist on specific varieties (senga sengana strawberries, Maui Gold pineapples and alphonso mangoes, for example) but we try to deal direct with the plantations to allow us to choose the best crops and to get fruit that is harvested at the optimum stage in its life. Obviously, the fresh fruit that comes to us has to be kept spotlessly clean and in tip-top condition. The oranges that come in for squeezing, for example, are inspected, washed and then inspected again before they are squeezed. This freshly squeezed juice is then added to the fruit that is crushed whole, be it our mashed bananas, crushed cranberries or pulped mangoes, to turn the juice into a smoothie. We then gently pasteurise the smoothie, using the same process that farmers use on their fresh milk. This ensures that there are no bugs in the juice. Because of the high pulp content of our juices it is best to take this precaution. In the US, if you don't pasteurise your juice, you have to put a health warning on the front. This hasn't been introduced in the UK yet, but we're not going to take any risks. Then, once all the blending of the fruit has been completed we simply put it straight into the bottles and get it down to Fruit Towers.
And your yoghurt?
We get our fresh low-fat bio yoghurt delivered to us from a dairy in the heart of the Mendip Hills.
Why should I buy your drinks instead of another brand?
Other brands use concentrates, preservatives, water and sugar whereas we like to put our effort into selecting the best tasting fruit. We only use the best tasting varieties in our drinks. We use a carefully selected blend to achieve the right balance of freshness, sweetness and deliciously fruity flavour in every recipe. Our drinks regularly win in blind taste tests against other brands, taste them for yourself and see. We also work with all of our fruit farmers to make sure that they look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards that detail our expectations for social and environmental issues. We are continually working with all of our suppliers to help them implement this agreed action plan. And on top of all of that hard work, we give 10% of profits to our charitable foundation, so that when we go to bed at night we can feel proud of the drinks we've made.
Why are concentrates so rubbish?
We believe that food companies should do everything they can to get food to people in its natural state. A concentrated orange juice is orange juice that has been boiled, then evaporated in a vacuum and then homogenised, resulting in a thick tar. This is then frozen and shipped to countries where it is defrosted and reconstituted with water and flavourings.
How should I look after and store your drinks?
Please please please keep our drinks cold. We can't stress that enough. Because we don't use any preservatives that might make them last a bit longer, they need to be well cared for. They should be stored between 0-5° C, which, luckily enough, is the temperature of your average fridge. So stick them in the chiller as soon as you get home from the shops, or if you're saving a bit for later, don't leave it on your desk - pop it back in the fridge for a while. Once opened, we reckon our drinks are best drunk on the same day, although as previously mentioned you should refrigerate them between sips. If you leave them out of the fridge, they will eventually start to ferment. This is a completely safe, natural process but it means the smoothie goes fizzy. It normally causes tiny bubbles in the drink. Click here to find out more about fermentation. If you suspect a drink to be fermented, please dispose of the contents of the bottle and contact us at hello@innocentdrinks.co.uk or call the banana phone on 020 8600 3939 with details about the bottle or carton and its enjoy by date. So, please do keep our smoothies nice and cold.
How long do they last?
Because we don't use preservatives or stabilisers they generally last about as long as a pint of milk. Please always keep them chilled and drink them within four days of opening.
Can I freeze your smoothies?
Our smoothies are made of nothing but whole crushed fruit and pure juices, so it's completely safe to freeze them. However, we don't really recommend it because they taste much better fresh. To be more specific, bananas don't freeze well; when they defrost they go brown and a bit slimy. Check out this picture of a fresh banana and one that's defrosted. We know which we would rather drink. 
If you do decide to freeze one of our smoothies, please make sure you defrost it in the fridge so it stays chilled at all times and note that this might take as long as 3 days. You should also drink it on the day of defrosting.
Do you have any drinks that don't contain banana?
Our kiwis, apples & limes smoothie (also available in 1 litre cartons) and yoghurt, vanilla bean & honey thickie are both completely banana free. As are our apple and orange juice.
Are your products organic?
No they're not organic. We want to minimise pesticide and other agrochemical usage on our fruit, and this is one of the requirements of both the Rainforest Alliance and also the innocent minimum standards for our fruit growers. Both sets of standards also ban the use of any of the 'dirty dozen' pesticides as listed by the Pesticide Action Network. To ensure the safety of our drinks we conduct independent tests on our ingredients, at an accredited laboratory, throughout the harvest calender. Of the test results with anything being detected at all, these detections fall well within the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) that you are allowed. Each year our policy will be reviewed and testing procedures will be updated.
And what about all of those plastic bottles?
All our smoothie bottles contain some recycled PET* plastic, otherwise known as rPET.
So can I recycle your plastic bottles and cartons?
We've got a whole section on our website dedicated to this. You can check it out here.
Are your products suitable for vegans?
Smoothies - We're afraid as we can't guarantee that our drinks are shellac free, due to the small chance that tiny amounts of shellac do make it into our drinks, we can't class our drinks as being suitable for vegans. Thickies - no (they contain dairy produce and honey).
Are your products suitable for pregnant women?
Yes. Although we've heard that some of them prefer coal.
Can infants and children drink your products?
Infants under 12 months shouldn't drink our vanilla and honey bean thickies. The Food Standards Agency says that honey should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism. Infantile botulism occurs when honey contains Clostridium Botulinum spores, which infect the infant gut that then produces the toxin. This is not a problem for anyone aged more than 12 months. Regarding children in general, our smoothies, thickies and juices are OK - they contain nothing but crushed and juiced fruit (and low-fat bio yoghurt in the thickies), so the health properties should be welcome for kids who quite like sweets and crisps too. Fruit naturally contain sugars and bacause smoothies and juices are made entirely from fruit, they contain sugars too. If possible, try to keep smoothies and fruit juices to meal times and make sure children brush their teeth twice a day with fluoride tooth paste. You can visit our health section for more information about dental health. In general, look on the ingredients panel and check the amount of fruit in each bottle. If it seems like a reasonable amount of fruit, then it will be OK. If you don't usually give your child this much fruit, then adjust the amount accordingly. We make a range of drinks specifically for children which you can find out about here. They've got less bits in them, as children seem to prefer their smoothies that way.
Why do you always use apples, oranges and bananas in your smoothies?
These three fruits are a bit like the salt and pepper of the fruit world, except there are three of them. We use them for natural sweetness (apples), natural sharpness (oranges) and natural thickness (bananas). It beats using artificial stuff.
So why don't you call your mangoes and passion fruits smoothie "apples, mangoes and passion fruits"?
We name our smoothies according to whichever flavours you can taste the most. So we feel if we were to start calling the smoothies "apples, mangoes and passion fruits," it would be a bit misleading, as what you really taste when you take a mouthful are the mangoes and passion fruits. All of the ingredients are printed in full on the label, so it's not like we're trying to be sneaky or anything.
Do your products contain nuts?
Our veg pots may contain traces of nuts but our smoothies and juices contain no nuts whatsoever (which keeps the squirrels happy).
How do you make sure your fruit is from ethical sources?
Our ultimate aim is that we are proud of every piece of fruit that we use. We want to buy our fruit from farms that look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards, that detail our expectations for all the relevant social and environmental issues. We are in the process of rolling out these standards with our suppliers, and will work together with them to implement the agreed action plans. We feel that it is really important to understand the issues relevant to each country, and the pressures faced by our farmers, so we are meeting with more and more of our growers. As our fruit comes from all over the world this is a huge task, but one to which we are passionately committed. We know that there is no point recreating the wheel - so we also work with established international accreditation organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance. We first met them at a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and were so impressed with the work they do, that we now only buy banana from Rainforest Alliance approved plantations. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It not only looks at farm workers rights and wellbeing, but also protects ecosystems on the farms, which encourages bio diversity. We believe this sustainable approach is the best one. A well run farm with motivated workers means better quality fruit and better productivity, which means we get nicer fruit and the farms are more profitable.
Are you going to move all your fruit to Rainforest Alliance approved sources?
No, it just isn't applicable for certain countries and certain fruits, like those that we source from the UK. But as the Rainforest Alliance expands into new certification territory, like pineapple, we'll be keen to keep on building our relationship with them. As they develop new standards for new fruits, we will assess their suitability for our growers. Whilst we don't like to boast, it turns out they quite appreciate the work we do and they showed their gratitude last year with this rather fetching trophy. Outside of the world of fruit they certify all sort of things including coffee, cocoa and forestry. Find out more here: www.rainforest-alliance.org
Why don't you buy fairtrade fruit?
We take the ethics of our supply chain incredibly seriously and took great care to find the best independent certification scheme that matched our values, and suited our needs the best. Fairtrade's primary focus is on the prices paid to the farmers and social issues for small farms and cooperatives. It's a great scheme but we felt that Rainforest Alliance looked at a broader spectrum of issues (both social and environmental), which we thought was a better fit with our own ethos. Also, the Fair Trade scheme predominantly certifies cooperative and and family run small holdings - not all of our fruit is available from these types of farms, so Fairtrade isn't always applicable to our growers. Articles like this one from The Observer Food Monthly debate the key differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade (this one's about coffee).
What is the innocent foundation?
The innocent foundation is a grant giving charity that was set up in July 2004 with the idea of bringing nature and communities closer together for mutual benefit. innocent donate 10% of our profits each year to charity, primarily to the innocent foundation, which funds rural development projects in the countries where our fruit comes from. Find out more here.
Can I have some free drinks for my event please?
We get lots and lots of requests for our drinks and as much as we'd love to help everyone out, it would just be impossible. Instead, we give any excess drinks we have to the homeless through the charity, Fareshare. You can find out a bit more about the good work they do here.
Okay. But it's for charity. Does that make any difference?
Generally, we feel it's better to be able to offer a significant amount of support to one cause rather than a little backing to lots of different ones. With that in mind, every year we donate 10% of our annual profits to charity, the majority of which goes to the foundation. Its remit is to fund Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work to bring nature and communities closer together. You can see a bit more about the projects we support at www.innocentfoundation.org. Hope that all makes sense.
I'm running a marathon/ climbing Everest/ shaving off all my chin hair for charity. Can you sponsor me please?
Again, whilst we applaud anyone who gives up their time to sit in a bath of baked beans or run further than the corner shop to raise money for charity but if we sponsored everyone who wrote to us, we'd be living off beans and no toast. Instead, we make sure that we give something back to the countries where we buy our fruit, via the innocent foundation. |
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